Your Mission From God by Henri Lemay

God the Creator is the giver of missions. To Jesus, the Father has given the greatest mission, the mission by which every other mission on earth will be measured. He calls us to join him saying, "He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters." Jesus fulfills His mission through us, His body, the Church. The Church has no other mission than the one given by God to Jesus. Every member of the Church has no other mission than a part in the one given by God to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit.

When the Father sends his Word, he always sends his Breath. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him.

The mission given to Jesus is mind boggling--"I have come... to save the world. I have come to proclaim the kingdom of God. No one can come to the Father except through me. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full. I have come to bring fire to the earth." In other words, there is no limit to the power and scope of the mission given to Jesus: "All authority in Heaven and on earth have been given to me."

You and I have a part in that mission. Jesus says: Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. Then He added: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses.

By the power of Baptism and Confirmation, all of us are entrusted by God with a mission. We are made to share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Jesus. The Spirit of God leads us to new initiatives to fulfill our part in the mission of Christ, sometimes in the Church, most often in the world.

The call of the clergy, in a spirituality of obedience to proper authority, is mainly to build up the Church. They do this mainly through the Sacraments, charisms and ministries.

The call of lay people, in a spirituality based on initiatives - as the Spirit leads- is mainly to bring the Gospel to the world and thus draw others into the Church. Lay people do this mainly through charisms and ministries. Since 1967 the Catholic Charismatic Renewal has generated countless initiatives by individuals and groups baptized in the Holy Spirit: to feed and clothe the poor, visit the sick and prisoners, welcome strangers and the marginalized; to run prayer groups, houses of prayer, new communities, evangelization outreaches, outreaches to media ministries, healing and deliverance ministries, political involvement, social justice ministries and more. All the charismatic gifts identified in the New Testament and the fivefold charismatic ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have sprung up spontaneously all over the world through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

The Catholic Church in its Catechism identifies lay people’s need for freedom to take initiatives: The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church: Lay believers are in the front line of Church life. This is an awesome declaration and an invitation for laity to become co-responsible, adult members of the Church. The Church is Christ alive in His mystical Body with a twofold dimension, visible and invisible, institutional and charismatic.

� 1999 ICCRS NEWSLETTER, Vatican City. Condensed and used with permission.